1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a golf course maintenance device, and more particularly, to a device which may be secured to the base of a flag pole or stick.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Golf is a well established recreational activity enjoyed by Americans and people all over the world. Golf courses, both public and private, are available to most communities through out the country and at each of these courses a significant effort is undertaken to establish and maintain proper facilities. Among the most important considerations in the maintenance of these facilities is the playing surfaces and in particular the putting green itself. It is essential to the game that the putting green surface be free of irregularities which would potentially disrupt the predictable movement of a golf ball directed toward the cup. Such irregularities, however, do arise, and they frequently particularly take the form of a semi-spherical indentation in the turf of the putting green caused by the impact of a golf ball. If unattended to, these indentations or, as they are more commonly referred to, divots, can linger for several days and become a nuisance to other players.
Although many golfers neglect to do so, it is considered good etiquette to repair a divot made by one's own ball by loosening the compacted area of soil and turf corresponding to the divot, which loosening speeds up the recovery of the green. For this purpose, conscientious golfers often carry a pronged tool for lifting up the compacted turf and underlying soil. The pronged tool, which is small enough be carried in the golfer's pocket, is inserted into the turf around the divot and the soil is worked up with a prying motion.
In addition to the small tool described above, a wide variety of other divot repair devices have been proposed. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,329, entitled FLAG PIN ATTACHMENT INCLUDING BALL DISTANCE MEASURING LINE AND TURF REPAIR TOOL and issued to Trigg et al. on Jun. 16, 1981, there is proposed a ball distance measuring device which incorporates a divot repair tool. This device is intended to be worn or clipped on to a golf player's clothing. In use, the device is clipped onto a flag pin and a measuring line is played out by pulling a ring member to the location of the ball to be marked. A pair of prong members constitute the divot repair component of the device. To function as a divot repair tool, the attachment must first be removed from the flag stick, since the prong members extend in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the flag stick while the device is attached thereto.
Also proposed are divot repair tools securable to a golf club. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,609 to Kassen and U.S. Pat No. 3,771,794 to Crockett. Although such devices permit the golfer to repair a divot from a standing position, they must be specifically dimensioned to accommodate a particular club structure unless special modifications are made. Moreover, depending on conditions such as soil compaction and the like, there is the potential that expensive clubs may be damaged when used in the manner contemplated by the by Kassen and Crockett.
Other devices which have been proposed utilize a rod or tube-like member having a handle at one end and a ground engaging device at the other end. For examples of such devices, reference may be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,869,915, 3,168,150, 4,846,286, 4,884,805, and 5,1029,854. Each of these devices allows the golfer to repair his damage without the need for kneeling to the ground, and thus represent an improvement over the pocket sized pronged tool discussed above. However, because such structures are relatively large and must be carried in the golf bag, they may be impractical for those golfers who do not wish to make a separate trip to retrieve the special-purpose repair tool each time it is needed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a divot repair tool which is securable to the bottom of a flag stick or pole and which is therefore highly accessible to the user.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a divot repair tool which allows the user to effect a divot repair from an upright, standing position.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tool which is easy to use as well as economical to manufacture.